ICMR-ICRC Cancer Research - Applications Invited

India Cancer Research Consortium (ICMR-ICRC) Indian Council of Medical Research-Department of Health Research Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India CALL FOR PROPOSALS India Cancer Research Consortium (ICMR-ICRC) is a research collaboration established under the aegis of the Indian Council of Medical Research-Department of Health Research (ICMR-DHR) to promote, articulate and prioritize cancer research in our country. The Consortium will bring together all stakeholders working on cancer including researchers, health-care professionals, government and non-government organizations, public health representatives/policy makers, under one umbrella.

ICRC aims to provide a framework to the research community for planning and implementation of prioritized research through the establishment of a common platform. The goal is to improve cancer outcomes for the public.

IDENTIFYING RESEARCH CHALLENGES The Consortium’s Technical Advisory Group, which includes leading National and International experts, has identified six key thematic areas to prioritize and articulate research challenges. Interested applicants are required to submit proposals under the following themes:

Thematic Area Prevention and Epidemiology

Research Challenge Communication research and big data analysis.

Scaling up studies.

Diagnostics

Identification of biomarkers for pre and early neoplastic lesions.

Therapeutics

Cancer therapeutics including new targets and repurposing of drugs.

Palliative care

Assessment of need and solution in palliative care in India.

Basic biology

Cancer Immunology (including neoantigens, vaccines, metabolites and cancer stem cells) and signaling pathways.

Innovation

Development of validation assay/tool/solution which are ready to be rolled out for clinical trial in 3 years.

The proposals are expected to follow the following general principles: 1.

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The proposals must address one of the above mentioned thematic areas.

Aim to produce outcomes that are readily translatable into practice.

Preferably in multidisciplinary collaborative mode.

Be Innovative and promote development of indigenous technologies.

Be feasible and within the constraints of the funding and time available.

Projects that are ready for implementation/scalability in the form of deliverables and point of care technologies will be given priority.

7. Projects should preferably focus on common cancers like tobacco related, cervical cancer, breast cancer etc. Considering the high incidence and paucity of data on cancer in the North-East, projects from North-East region will be given preference.

8. Projects will be evaluated by their potential for research publications, translational value and patents.

ELIGIBILITY Individuals holding permanent positions in the following: 1. Medical colleges, educational and research institutes.

2. NGOs, companies registered with DSIR. Thematic group members are not eligible to apply to avoid conflict of interest.

HOW TO APPLY Duration of the research proposals should be up to three years. The grant provided per proposal will be up to 1.5 crores per center. All projects involving research on human beings/animals must be cleared by the Human ethics committee/Animal ethics committee of the respective institute.

Interested applicants are required to email the concept proposal to icmr.icrc@gmail.com.

The format for preparing the concept proposal is given below and is also available on ICRC website www.icrc.icmr.org.in. Our advisory panel will review the submitted proposals and shortlisted applicants will be asked to submit the detailed proposal.

IMPORTANT TIMELINES The last date for submission of concept proposals is 29th Oct 2019 till 5.00 pm. The result of the shortlisted applicants will be displayed on ICMR and ICRC website on 15th Nov 2019.

The last date for submission of detailed proposals by shortlisted applicants is 30th Dec 2019 till 5.00 pm. Final result of projects selected for funding will be displayed on or before 3rd Feb 2019.

FOR QUERY, CONTACT: Email Id: icmr.icrc@gmail.com Address: India Cancer Research Consortium (ICMR-ICRC) Department of Health Research First Floor, Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) Building 1, Red Cross Road, New Delhi-110001.

CONCEPT PROPOSAL SUBMISSION FORMAT

Applicants are required to Email the concept proposal to icmr.icrc@gmail.com in pdf format.

The applicants should also mention the name of the thematic area in the subject of the Email.

Concept Proposal must to be prepared under the following sub-headings (mandatory) and exceeding the word limit will lead to disqualification.

1. Thematic Area: The applicants must mention the thematic area under which they wish to apply.

2. Title of the Proposed research project: Should be concise and informative.

3. Rationale (up to 250 words): Describe the current knowledge available on the subject, critical gaps in knowledge and the national relevance of the research question which this project aims to address. Also mention the preliminary work done by the applicant, if any.

4. Novelty/Innovation (up to 100 words): Describe how the proposal challenges and seeks to shift the current research/knowledge/clinical practice paradigms by utilizing novel theoretical concepts, methodologies, instrumentation or interventions.

5. Project description (up to 600 words): Describe the study setting, study design, sampling strategy, sample size, research methodology and outcomes measures. Also mention expected timelines, total budget, name and designation of co- investigators and intra and inter institutional collaborations, if any.

6. Strength of PI: Describe academic qualifications, employment details, previous experience of handling research projects (past and ongoing) and the scientific contributions made from these projects. Enumerate 10 relevant publications (in Vancouver style).

7. Institutional support (up to 200 words): Mention the institutional support in terms

of basic infrastructure, departments and laboratories with equipment required for the proposed research work.